CR2
Top Dog Mod
Moderator
Join Date: May 2000
Location: New York
Age: 40
Posts: 1,849
Thought Polar flying is DHL flying unless I missed something I shouldn't have
Now here is a question from me, just curious. If the 200 fleet were completely removed, would the F/E issue disappear?
Polar's FE's do not have rights to the seats on Atlas -200's under the arbitration award. This is simply because Polar is bringing no -200's (and their FE seats) to the merged carrier and the arbitrator held that as such, they can't take an Atlas FE's seat from his airplane.
This also holds for the furloughed -200 Captains and FO's. They are not bringing their seats to the merged carrier, and therefore have no claim to a seat held by an Atlas Captain or FO on an Atlas plane.
A number of the crewmembers in question were hired to plus up Polar when Atlas retailiated against the union and dry leased a number of Classic's to Polar. What is unfortunate is that the Polar leadership knew in late 2001 that when the airlines merged, only the -400's and an estimated 150 Polar crewmembers would integrate. Something not missed by the arbitrator.
While the crewmembers will have the right to recall; it won't be until there is relative growth...i.e., the fleet expands above a preset limit. Given the tradeoff's of a -200 for an -800, this could take quite a long time. And in all likelihood, since the demand for the demand for the Classic is in the dumpster and no new 3 man birds are coming off the assembly line, the odds of FE's returning are very poor.
Regarding the need to pay unqualified or untrained crewmembers ad infinitum...while the Polar scope says some things...and has many interpreters...it also clearly states that a company has the right to run it's business as it deems necessary.(paraphrased) No different than any other labor contract. In some it's called a "force mejeure."
No court in the land is going to force a company into financial straits over a labor contract. Period.